The present invention relates to dispensers for folded and stacked sheets such as paper towels and the like, and more particularly to dispensers for sheets having "single-fold" configuration.
Paper towel dispensers of the type wherein folded sheets are taken from the bottom of a stack by pulling from a bottom dispenser opening are well known, being used in many commercial and institutional settings. In the single-fold configuration, successive sheets feed alternately from front and rear bottom extremities of the stack, and typical dispensers of the prior art have a lateral feed slot that is centrally spaced between front and rear housing walls. The dispensers of the prior art are not entirely satisfactory, for a number of reasons. For example:
1. The sheets are subject to tearing because of excessive frictional resistance to feeding, particularly when the dispenser is loaded with a large quantity of sheets;
2. Consequently, many dispensers are configured for receiving only short stacks of sheets, having insufficient capacity for feeding over a full maintenance cycle without becoming empty; and
3. The tearing problem is exacerbated by the use of towel materials having enhanced softness and absorption, particularly when accessed by users having wet fingers.
Another problem is that many dispenser installations are subject to cleaning by pressure water streams from hoses. In such situations, towel sheet dispensers must be emptied, dried out, and reloaded. Although dispenser housings can be configured for shedding water, some water gets in through the feed slot, soaking a bottom portion of the stack of sheets to the point of preventing further feeding until the dispenser id dried and reloaded.
Thus there is a need for a high capacity dispenser that can reliably feed sheets even when accessed by wet fingers. There is a further need for a dispenser that is water resistant to the point of not requiring reloading after being hosed off.